Kenya: Nakuru, Masai Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo West and East with in2kenya Giovanni - part 2 — travel diary by lacrisa

The story

LAKE NAKURU MASAI MARA (PART TWO)

MASAI MARA

It's morning, in the silence, after breakfast, we load the luggage and head toward the park exit. But here we meet 3 lionesses, lying in the grass. They're resting and their breath rises in little puffs of steam! A few metres on, who comes out of the bush? A BLACK RHINO, rare, very rare and shy, but also very aggressive, unlike the much bigger but more docile white rhino! It's hard to see, but we're extremely lucky!! In fact, a little further on, 2 male lions are feasting on a just-hunted warthog!! a bit further off some hyenas approach, then move away, waiting for their turn! We leave this extraordinary place, to take the road that will lead us to the Masai Mara. Along the way, various naps.

After a few hours, having passed the town of Narok, we begin our approach to the land of the great Masai warriors!! Fields of grass burnt by the sun, where whole herds of cattle graze, with long horns, the typical hump, glossy coats, almost reflecting, making them shine in the hot African sun! We arrive at our lodge, David Livingstone, at lunchtime. It's very nice, welcoming, furnished with typical Masai fabrics, red, red and blue, red and white. The lodge overlooks the Mara river directly, and there right in front of the table where we're having lunch a large herd of enormous hippos appears and disappears from the water. After lunch, we set off again. Here the landscape is different. A great expanse of African prairie, with large bushes. A family of cheerful warthogs parades in front of us. They're funny, trotting with their tails up, their broad snouts turned to the sky.

A line of big ones and little ones struggling to keep up. The day ends with a big lion, it has a thick mane, blond, long. It's beautiful, the colour of wheat. It sleeps completely relaxed, legs in the air under a big bush!! Hey, king of the forest. Nothing, it doesn't stir, and after taking about fifty photos of it, we decide to go back and not disturb its sleep any further. We're tired too. Tired but happy for the beautiful day. So a hot shower awaits us. An excellent dinner, a bit of chatting while the great hippos, finally, in the cool of the evening come out of the water to graze, with their enormous tusks, just a metre from us!! African night MASAI MARA

Today's day will be entirely dedicated to the Masai Mara Reserve. Yes, we won't come back for lunch, we'll eat directly in the savannah!! Inside the Masai Mara, there are no tracks. So one must rely on the knowledge of the immense territory of the Masai rangers. The territory is boundless, we begin spotting herds of wildebeest and zebras. There are many. The great migration has begun. A spectacle worthy of an NG documentary!! And we are not sitting in an armchair, in front of the television, but here!! We are INSIDE the documentary of nature. We are at the centre of its life. Great Topi antelopes, which love to stand still with their front legs resting even on a tiny rise, have a reddish colour, a very glossy coat, and big black patches on their thighs and shoulders.

After a few minutes, among the blades of grass swaying in the wind, there's a group of vultures waiting!! There are many, arranged in two rows. In the centre, a couple of small jackals with their pointed ears are feasting on a small prey. We stop to watch the scene. Every so often one of the two raises its head, checking the movements of the vultures. But, there, a moment is enough, it gets distracted and... its prey is no longer its own, disappearing among feathers coloured glossy grey, long featherless necks, hooked beaks!! And there, a lioness, is watching a prey. A wildebeest has been hunted. She lies at its side. She doesn't eat. But in the distance we see two other lionesses arriving. They trot lightly. They approach our jeep. I can see inside their eyes. The first crouches facing us, Giovanni gets up to photograph her, and she is immediately alert.

Ready to pounce!!! She has yellow, hypnotic eyes! I look at her gaze, a hunter's gaze, a gaze that enchants and freezes!!! I feel myself trembling, she's there, very close, ready. Still shaken, we continue. Giovanni and the driver are looking for a suitable place to stop for lunch. A brief stop at the Mara river, where we get out, accompanied by the ranger and our guide Giovanni, to stretch our legs, and to watch crocodiles waiting on the bank, and hippos huddled together, while the water flows among the black rocks. Here, the spot for our picnic. In the middle of the savannah, under a great umbrella-shaped acacia. We get out, spread a Masai blanket, and feast on the products they prepared for us that morning at the lodge.

Chicken, delicious, a sandwich, tomatoes, a dessert, water, juice, fresh fruit!! But do you believe it? I'm having lunch, in the middle of the Masai Mara, sitting on the ground, my gaze wandering over nature, with even a little fear that a predator might come close, but happy, happy, happy!! Our game continues. Elephants near the bush, an eagle watching from the branches of a bare tree. Great herds of wildebeest and zebras dot the savannah. There are thousands. Some, suddenly, start jumping, apparently for no reason. They jump for a few seconds, then stop just as aimlessly. Among them, groups of elegant, slender Grant's gazelles and Thomson's gazelles. As we head back for dinner, two more gifts, given by this endless land.

First, under a cactus, so enormous that from a distance it looks like a great tree, there are 3 cheetahs, comfortably lying down; when we arrive, they barely raise their heads. They're beautiful, elegant, slender, with their characteristic black spots, the two tears as if drawn. We observe them from every angle. They're beautiful, I say to myself again. They seem so tame that I feel like getting out to stroke them. Elegant, sinuous, comfortably lying down, they rub their muzzles against each other. We set off again. The spectacle isn't over; under a solitary bush, a beautiful family of lions. Great lionesses, a big male. They doze, full bellies in the air. Bellies swollen with food, the laboured breath of digestion. They open their eyes to look at us, their muzzles resting on the ground, as if to say: let us sleep, siestaaaa! So we let them rest undisturbed.

Fantastic day, after a hot shower, a chat to retrace the day in our minds, we slip under the warm blankets. African night.